| (19) |
 |
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(11) |
EP 1 536 335 A3 |
| (12) |
EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| (88) |
Date of publication A3: |
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08.02.2006 Bulletin 2006/06 |
| (43) |
Date of publication A2: |
|
01.06.2005 Bulletin 2005/22 |
| (22) |
Date of filing: 26.10.2004 |
|
| (51) |
International Patent Classification (IPC):
|
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| (84) |
Designated Contracting States: |
|
AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR
|
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Designated Extension States: |
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AL HR LT LV MK |
| (30) |
Priority: |
30.10.2003 US 695953
|
| (71) |
Applicant: ALCATEL |
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75008 Paris (FR) |
|
| (72) |
Inventors: |
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- Code, Sean Donald Robert
KANATA, Ontario K2M 1X9 (CA)
- MacDonald, Aaron Maxwell
OTTAWA, Ontario K2G 6N5 (CA)
|
| (74) |
Representative: Feray, Valérie |
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Feray Lenne Conseil
39/41, avenue Aristide Briand
92163 Antony
92163 Antony (FR) |
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| |
|
| (54) |
Intelligent scheduler for multi-level exhaustive scheduling of tasks |
(57) A method and apparatus are provided for scheduling tasks within a computing device
such as a communication switch. When a task is to be scheduled, other tasks in the
work queue are analyzed to see if any can be executed simultaneously with the task
to be scheduled. If so, the two tasks are combined to form a combined task, and the
combined task is placed within the job queue. In addition, if the computing device
has insufficient resources to execute the task to be scheduled, the task is placed
back into the work queue for future scheduling. This is done in a way which avoids
immediate reselection of the task for scheduling. Task processing efficiency is increased,
since combining tasks reduces the waiting time for lower priority tasks, and tasks
for which there are insufficient resources are delayed only a short while before a
new scheduling attempt, rather than rejecting the task altogether.